Complete amino acid sequence of the lentil trypsin-chymotrypsin inhibitor LCI-1.7 and a discussion of atypical binding sites of Bowman-Birk inhibitors

The complete primary structure of the lentil (Lens culinaris) trypsin-chymotrypsin inhibitor LCI-1.7 was determined by conventional methods in order to find relationships between partial sequences and the difference in action against human and bovine chymotrypsin. As other Bowman-Birk type inhibitors, LCI-1.7 contained 68 amino acid residues, seven disulfide bridges, and two reactive sites, Arg16-Ser17 for trypsin and Tyr42-Ser43 for chymotrypsin. Evaluation of sequence homologies showed that it belonged to the group III Bowman-Birk inhibitors. The atypical additional binding site of LCI-1.7 for human chymotrypsin was discussed and compared with such binding sites of two other Bowman-Birk inhibitors, the Bowman-Birk soybean proteinase inhibitor BBI, and the lima bean proteinase inhibitor LBI I, for human and bovine trypsin and chymotrypsin. A concept to reduce the action of these inhibitors against human enzymes by genetic engineering was proposed.